International Waste Management

Our environmental experts work with governments and organizations around the world to help them create sustainable waste management solutions. We design and implement strategies that consider the life-cycle environmental and cost impacts, and we support the development of regulatory processes for municipal, industrial, agricultural, and hazardous wastes management.

Capabilities

At RTI, we have a distinct advantage in our ability to address and help solve waste management problems. We can capitalize on the complementary expertise of scientists and technicians working across the full spectrum of solid waste management, from design to implementation of integrated waste management strategies.

We provide a wide array of waste-related services, including the following:

• Life-cycle assessment and design of waste management strategies
• Technology evaluations including emerging waste conversion technologies such as gasification, pyrolysis, and anaerobic digestion
• Emission inventories and greenhouse gas reporting
• Regulatory and economic impact analysis
• Social impact assessment and assessments of social and behavioral barriers to adoption of waste management strategies
• Computer-based, decision-support tool development
• Outreach and capacity transfer

Tools and Models

We have developed the following tools and models that are widely used to design and implement waste management strategies.

• Municipal Solid Waste Decision Support Tool, which is a peer-reviewed and U.S. EPA-funded life-cycle assessment and full cost accounting tool that simulates and optimizes alternative waste management strategies. These strategies include landfill with energy recovery, recycling, composting, and various waste-to energy technologies.
• A suite of life-cycle assessment models of emerging waste conversion technologies used to produce electricity and fuels. This suite of models was developed for various projects and includes anaerobic digestion, gasification, and pyrolysis technologies.